Music Muse: Fresh Beat Kids, Village People on way

Quick hits Todd Bridges, best known for playing Willis on TV's "Diff'rent Strokes," will perform Aug. 14 at Speedeez Sports Bar & Grill in North East. His stand-up includes behind-the-scenes stories from the show and Hollywood gossip. Afterward, he'll meet with fans. Tickets are $25. Call 725-9933. The Erie Playhouse has made "Les Miserables" fans very, very happy by adding the blockbuster musical for its 2014-15 season. The show will be unavailable for several years, so the Playhouse decided to present it one more time, while it can. "Les Mis" broke Playhouse records in fall 2012. David Matthews will again direct, and many of the show's original cast members will return for the April 2015 production. The season, sponsored by LECOM, also includes "Shrek: The Musical," "Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike," "Elf," "The Addams Family," "To Kill a Mockingbird," "Sunset Boulevard," "Elvis Has Left the Building" and "All Shook Up." Call 454-2852 for more details. Steve-O from "Jackass" will perform at Jr.'s Last Laugh from Jan. 15-17. Tickets are on sale now at www.jrslastlaugh.com and 461-0911. Calling all Bob Marley fans. Veteran reggae group the Ark Band, which recently played at the Erie Reggae Festival, will return to Schickalay's on the Bay on Aug. 24 from 4 to 8 p.m. for a free show. This one will feature all Marley. An opening act will be announced later. Grateful Dead fans will amass at Willow Creek Winery in Silver Creek, N.Y., this weekend for Grateful Getaway. The two-day event features mostly Dead music as fans remember Jerry Garcia, who died on Aug. 9, 1995. Performers include Workingman's Dead, Groove Force, Little Mountain Band and Grateful Dans. Look for late-night sets of Phish music, too. For info, see www.willowcreekwines.net. If you can't make the above fest, fear not. Dark Star Orchestra will play Nov. 14 at the Reg Lenna Center for the Arts in Jamestown, N.Y. Tickets go on sale Friday at (716) 484-7070.

richardsdERIE TIMES-NEWS

The Erie-area concert scene heats up something fierce starting Saturday when Steely Dan plays at Presque Isle, followed next week by CelebrateErie with Cheap Trick, Who's Bad -- the Ultimate Michael Jackson tribute, Sawyer Brown and an Erie all-star music salute to late-period Beatles and their best-known solo material. Then, there's the Crawford County Fair with Hunter Hayes and Lee Brice.

Looks like the scene won't cool off in the fall. The Jason Aldean and Florida Georgia Line concert for Oct. 9 sold out in about an hour. And more shows are on the way.

Tickets go on sale Friday for two polar-opposite ones: The Fresh Beat Band, a Nickelodeon sensation, and insult comedian Lisa Lampanelli. Somewhere in the middle are the Village People, also headed here.

Fresh Beat Band play the Warner Theatre on Dec. 16 at 6:30 p.m. Kiki, Marina, Twist and Shout will present their greatest hits tour, which means youngsters are in for a night with "Bananas," "Great Day," "Here We Go" and their cover of the Bangles' "Walk Like an Egyptian," among other songs.

Justin Bieber, Jason Mraz, Wayne Brady and Ne-Yo are among the stars who've hung out with the Fresh Beats and the group is beloved by many celebrity parents.

Lampanelli, as noted last week, plays the Warner on Sept. 19 at 8 p.m. Lampanelli's shock humor pokes fun at virtually every ethnic group and minority, often using stereotypes to drive home her point: We are all humans. Being an equal-opportunity offender is important, she told me last January before her show in Salamanca, N.Y.

"It's like the great equalizer," she said. "So everyone, when you come in, no matter who you are, knows that you're fair game. I think that's good."

Tickets range from $33.50 to $66 and go on sale Friday at 10 a.m.

Village People will headline an Eriest Halloween Bash with special guest the Groove on Oct. 30 at the Bayfront Convention Center.

That party will also include costume contests with various categories, including most outrageous and most like the Village People.

Tickets, available now, range from $20 to $50. The latter price includes a meet-and-greet with the band.

The Halloween Bash is sponsored by Headline Events (an Erie Times-News venture), which also puts on the Rock Erie Music Awards and other events. For more info, visit www.headlineevents.com.

Speaking of REMA, it's not too late to enter. Submissions will be accepted through Aug. 20 for the awards, scheduled Sept. 28 at the Bayfront Convention Center.

Artists can enter by visiting www.rockeriemusicawards.com. Album and song of the year nominees must be mailed to, or dropped off at, Times Publishing Company, 205 W. 12th St., Erie, Pa., 16534.

Voting begins Aug. 25 and runs through Sept. 7 -- a short window, yes, but just one vote per person is allowed, anyway.

Quick hits Todd Bridges, best known for playing Willis on TV's "Diff'rent Strokes," will perform Aug. 14 at Speedeez Sports Bar & Grill in North East. His stand-up includes behind-the-scenes stories from the show and Hollywood gossip. Afterward, he'll meet with fans. Tickets are $25. Call 725-9933. The Erie Playhouse has made "Les Miserables" fans very, very happy by adding the blockbuster musical for its 2014-15 season. The show will be unavailable for several years, so the Playhouse decided to present it one more time, while it can. "Les Mis" broke Playhouse records in fall 2012. David Matthews will again direct, and many of the show's original cast members will return for the April 2015 production. The season, sponsored by LECOM, also includes "Shrek: The Musical," "Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike," "Elf," "The Addams Family," "To Kill a Mockingbird," "Sunset Boulevard," "Elvis Has Left the Building" and "All Shook Up." Call 454-2852 for more details. Steve-O from "Jackass" will perform at Jr.'s Last Laugh from Jan. 15-17. Tickets are on sale now at www.jrslastlaugh.com and 461-0911. Calling all Bob Marley fans. Veteran reggae group the Ark Band, which recently played at the Erie Reggae Festival, will return to Schickalay's on the Bay on Aug. 24 from 4 to 8 p.m. for a free show. This one will feature all Marley. An opening act will be announced later. Grateful Dead fans will amass at Willow Creek Winery in Silver Creek, N.Y., this weekend for Grateful Getaway. The two-day event features mostly Dead music as fans remember Jerry Garcia, who died on Aug. 9, 1995. Performers include Workingman's Dead, Groove Force, Little Mountain Band and Grateful Dans. Look for late-night sets of Phish music, too. For info, see www.willowcreekwines.net. If you can't make the above fest, fear not. Dark Star Orchestra will play Nov. 14 at the Reg Lenna Center for the Arts in Jamestown, N.Y. Tickets go on sale Friday at (716) 484-7070.